SolidStore - Coming Soon

[Dylan Reeve]

I'll be announcing the details of our new 'SolidStore' product soon. A simple purpose-build portable device to facilitate the offload and backup of RED CF, RED Drive and other file-based systems.

Full details will follow in Feb, but here's a few tidbits:

• One-button operation - insert the card or connect the drive and press the go button. The built in display with tell you about progress, and a status light will give clear confirmation when the process is finished.
• Dual Removable Drives - all data is copied, by default, on to two removable drives (250GB default although available up to 500GB). The drive cartridges are readily available, and can also be used as external drives with a cable and power supply.
• Gigabit Ethernet - connectivity to a laptop or workstation by GigE for footage review and REDCine access.
• 12-24V Power - runs with standard 12/24V power and has over and under voltage protection.
• Expandable - Initially to support RED CF, and Firewire/USB drives, support will be expanded to P2 and XDCAM EX, and other formats as demand dictates.

We're aiming to have an initial production run ready to ship in August 2008.

Initial development will be targeted to RED usage, but other formats are also planned and will be added as they become possible.

Let us know what you'd like to see from this product, we're trying to make it as usable as possible for everyone. We want something that fits your workflow, not something that you have to fit your workflow around.

[Adrian Correia]

What I'd like to see? I'd like to see it now please.

[Jason Ing]

Approximate price range?

[Dylan Reeve]

Hard to say at the moment, still finalising hardware spec and suppliers... We should have better idea by mid February.

[Steve Tammi]

A good checksum, then delete all file from the CF card so it is ready for use.

Steve

[Dylan Reeve]

On-the-fly checksum for copy, and card reformat are planned features.

[Jeff Kilgroe]

I'd like to know price, form-factor, is it based on Windows / Linux or other more proprietary or specialized embedded system?

Trying to decide how this would compare vs. an all-in-one small form factor PC with dual CF readers, RAID storage and LTO-3 tape drive or hot-swap HDD bay.

The SFF PC concept is easy to assemble and maintain, cost effective, easy to repair in the field if needed and it can run REDCINE or other tools on location if needed too.

[Dylan Reeve]

I'd like to know price, form-factor, is it based on Windows / Linux or other more proprietary or specialized embedded system?

Trying to decide how this would compare vs. an all-in-one small form factor PC with dual CF readers, RAID storage and LTO-3 tape drive or hot-swap HDD bay.

The SFF PC concept is easy to assemble and maintain, cost effective, easy to repair in the field if needed and it can run REDCINE or other tools on location if needed too.

The SolidStore will be approximately 8x8x5" in a custom housing. It is built on Linux with cusomised tools and interface. As such it will not be able to run REDCINE, but depending on the tools made available by RED for Linux we'll endeavour to make it as useful as possible.

It won't be as flexible as a SFF PC (such as a Shuttle) but should be somewhat easier to use for those not keen to explore that. It requires no screen, keyboard or mouse. From what I understand, I believe the tools that Offhollywood are working on would be well suited for deployment in a small computer on set to streamline the process.

The SolidStore won't be a RED-only device, it is flexible enough that it should be able to support all major solid-state and drive-based formats (although support for them will be implemented after the initial release).

With Gigabit Ethernet and network-shared drives, there's no reason that the SolidStore can't be used alongside another PC when appropriate, but the SolidStore itself will serve primarily as an 'ingest' device, automating that part of the process, eliminating human error - the way we've imagined it, on sets where REDCINE functions maybe required, it can be run on any suitable Laptop accessing files directly over the network, in other cases, it can just sit unobtrusively in a corner doing it's thing.

[Jeff Kilgroe]

The SolidStore will be approximately 8x8x5" in a custom housing. It is built on Linux with cusomised tools and interface. As such it will not be able to run REDCINE, but depending on the tools made available by RED for Linux we'll endeavour to make it as useful as possible.

OK, thanks. Good to know.

Will it be capable of running of battery power? The small size is very appealing.

[Dylan Reeve]

It will operate on 11-30V (roughly) and the production model will probably include 4-pin XLR for power (the most common and easily adapted too, I think). So it should be usable with just about any existing 12/24V supply fairly easily.

Boot-time should be fairly quick (aiming for under 20sec) and it will have low-power shutdown, and over and under voltage protection.

Depending on the cost in production we also considered adding mount-holes for AB and V-mount battery plates, but it would probably be easy enough to add them after sales if that was desired.